MMPR: Plague
by dtm666
Summary: A mysterious illness has infected four of the Rangers, leaving Jason and newly-appointed leader Tommy to find a cure. But is this the work of Lord Zedd or a revenge scheme of Rita Repulsa? Or is it the work of another evil being?
1. Part 1

**MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS  
PLAGUE**

Written by DTM666

Chapter One

Originally Published On : May 2004 to August 2004

Disclaimer: The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.

-o-

Atop the clouds, the empress sat in her personal chamber looking at several burnt documents. On each document, there are various diagrams, graphs, and some text written in a language completely foreign to modern times. The empress seemed genuinely interested in some of these documents and made quick notes of them. After several hours of studying, the empress tucked the documents into a cabinet and stood up to stare out her pothole to observe the gleaming blue planet that for the past few months, she has been unable to conquer. Her ultimate weapon has been completed. It's all about waiting for the right time.

It has been weeks since the empress was stripped of her powers and imprisoned in a floating dumpster in space. However, rather than ponder her fate, she planned. She plotted. She worked on her revenge. Remembering the significant research she had done prior to imprisonment, she focused her energies and efforts on her ultimate weapon. The weapon which would cause agony, pain, and bring forth death after a period of time. But only one flaw remained: she had no method of delivering this weapon.

Fortunately for her, two dimwitted, incompetent humans managed to free her from her prison, which had conveniently landed on the planet in question. A slight purple steam spewed forth when she pushed open the top of the canister, although neither human managed to see this steam, which last momentarily before fading away. Instead, all they managed to see was the empress in her shrunken form before passing out in fear. The empress laughed in victory, only to look up and see her arch-enemies once again, as they trap her in her prison and send it off into space.

Although her enemies think that she is gone for good, the empress smiles. Although she would much rather be around, she knows that her ultimate weapon has been planted and when she returns, she will be the only one left standing on the Dead Earth and she will have gained her revenge on those who have wronged her.

-o-

"Damn." Thomas Oliver, the White Ranger thought to himself. "This is what I really need."

It had seemed like a typical Friday gone smoothly until the call into action. According to Zordon, a monster was causing trouble in the park. So Tommy called the other Rangers and they encountered the creature, a giant minotaur with an axe and a bad temper. After taking care of Zedd's usual supply of Putty Patrol, which seemed to precede every battle with the actual monster, the Rangers approached towards the monster, but kept their distance.

"Careful, Rangers." Tommy bellowed, "we don't want to cause more damage than there is."

The minotaur rushed towards the Rangers with his axe. All six Rangers managed to avoid the quick swipe of the weapon, either by rolling or jumping away. Jason attempted a sidekick to the chest of the monster, but was blocked and subsequently tripped, hitting the pavement with a sickening thud. The minotaur felt a stunning pain on his back and turned to see Zack firing several bolts of energy from the tip of his Power Axe. The minotaur went to a crouching position and jumped at the Black Ranger, tackling him to the ground.

It took a moment for the minotaur monster to stand up, a moment Kimberly capitalized upon by firing a couple of flaming arrows from her Power Bow. Sensing the oncoming projectiles, the minotaur blocked the shots with the handle of his axe and fired a couple of bolts at the Pink Ranger. The bolts missed their target, hitting pieces of pavement. Kim did not stand still, and by the time the smoke cleared, she was gone.

The minotaur continued its relentless attack with its powerful charges and energy beams, which the Rangers have managed to either recover from or dodge completely. It took a well-placed fist from Red Ranger to the side of the minotaur's face to halt its advances.

The monster, as it was about to attack, covered its face and screamed in agony. White Ranger noticed hints of purple energy bolts surging around his body. Dropping to one knee, the monster let out a powerful howl before crashing to the ground and exploding, emitting a powerful violet shockwave that knocked down all the Rangers.

Tommy recovered slowly and Jason got back to his feet in a short time. However, the others were still down. When the White and Red Rangers approached their friends, upon closer inspection, they realized their friends weren't moving. Heavy breathing was heard. Tommy felt his heart stop for a short instant. His senses went numb. Beneath his mask, his lips moved yet no voice came out. Jason, noticing his friend in shock of the situation, raised his own right arm to his face and spoke.

"Alpha!" he cried, "Get us to the Command Center! Now!"

Soon enough, Jason, Tommy, and their unconscious friends were enveloped in colored light before disappearing, leaving behind the burnt grass on which the monster had died in.

-o-

Something is wrong.

Lord Zedd, the master of evil, sensed it when he viewed his eventual Minotaurau suffering and eventually exploding to nothingness, sending out a shockwave that knocked down the Power Rangers and rendered them semi-unconscious. Zedd saw them teleport out of the waste scene. Zedd turned away from the balcony and stomped to his throne, with Goldar confused.

"My lord," the titan said, trying to cheer up his master, "the Minotaurau's self-destruction has caused a crippling blow to the..."

"You fool!" Zedd screamed, "the Minotaurau didn't self-destruct!"

Goldar scratched his head in confusion, "But the Rangers didn't destroy him either!"

"Exactly," the dark lord responded, "which means there is a third party at work here." He sat slowly to his throne and extended his right hand. Materializing out of a red haze, a small battered hardcover book formed on the palm of Zedd's hand. He opened and flipped through the pages. For every few pages he glanced through, his visor and some portions of his flesh body would glow a crimson red. After finishing flipping through the book, he threw it towards the farthest wall with such ferocity that the book exploded upon impact.

"GOLDAR!" he called angrily towards the titan, "I want you to search the archives! Look for anything that may explain that incident!"

Goldar wanted to ask what he was looking for, but didn't want to agitate Zedd any further. So he bowed slowly and left Zedd alone in the chamber of command. Maybe I shouldn't have destroyed that book, he thought, it would have been helped me with the fuel problem.

-o-

The caverns on the moon were used as a shelter for the aliens who had inhabited the surface during the Ancient Wars. Many of the skeletal remains of these aliens still exist, some corpses have even been preserved to look as though they've been around for a short while. One of the caverns seemed artificially crafted; straight stone surfaces on the walls, ceiling, and floor. A long, narrow passageway leading into a circular chamber. The chamber is plain and simple in its architect, with no columns or inscriptions of any kind. The only notable feature was the circular pond of purple liquid, which was letting off a faint glow.

From the purple pond, a humanoid 'hand' emerges. The hand extends its four fingers, each with a sharp, metallic claw about 2 inches long and half a centimeter thick. Another 'hand' grabs on to the ledge of the pool, this one similar to the other, but with a longer bone claw originating from the back of his wrist. The head - shaped somewhat like crumbled paper with a short beak sticking out - of... whatever this is... soon emerged from the oozing pit. The hissing sound it produced filled the empty chamber and can be heard miles away.

When it emerged to the barren surface of the moon, it was met with a shadowed man whose only notable feature was his glowing red eye and several spikes. The creature stood for a moment and walked past the shadowed man, who let out a small chuckle. The creature continued, uninterrupted, towards the Lunar Palace where Lord Zedd held his base of operations.

-o-

The six helmets of the Power Rangers rested on a control panel in the Command Center, each of them placed facing the viewing globe rather than towards the console area, as they would typically be placed. Jason and Tommy, the only two Rangers standing, looked on as Alpha 5 tended to the four unconscious Rangers, who were all in color-coordinated beds and wrapped in heavy blankets. Jason tried to fight the urge of breaking in tears while Tommy held his forehead with both elbows resting on a control panel.

"Ay yai yai!" the little robot squeaked, "this is terrible. They're burning up!"

"What could it be, Zordon?" Jason asked, "A spell?"

Zordon shook his head. "_No, Jason. My scans are telling me that the Rangers have been infected with a powerful viral property that is slowly but surely spreading. I fear that if the infection continues to run its course, the Rangers will not survive_."

Jason, at a loss for words, hung his head. Tommy, trying to maintain composure, stepped past his friend. "Is there anything we can do, Zordon?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," Alpha jumped in, "we cannot do anything without thoroughly analyzing the contagion and learning its properties."

"I don't understand." Tommy heard Jason say, noticing a hint of anger and anxiety in his voice. "Tommy and I were closer to the monster when it exploded. Why are we still standing? How come we're still feeling fine?"

"_We need to know the answers these questions and soon, Rangers,_" the sage said gravely, "_If Zedd has managed to produce a disease as damaging as this, we must find a way to counteract the virus before it is too late._"

Neither Jason nor Tommy replied, as both were looking towards their friends.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	2. Part 2

**MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS**

**PLAGUE**

Written by DTM666

Chapter Two

Originally Published On : May 2004 to August 2004

Disclaimer: The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.s

-o-

_The empress studied her various scrolls and documents that occupied half the space on her table, with the rest of the space occupied by various vials of chemicals and several small boxes and bags of powders. Following some directions, she mixed several components into the small, slim vial in front of her until it turned a light purplish color. Just as she had completed, her titan bodyguard slammed the door open, his armor bearing the scars of battle._

_"Empress," the titan called out, "Zordon's forces have broken through the outer defenses."_

_The empress turned towards her loyal soldier and smiled. "Don't fret. I can take care of them."_

_The empress took the small vial of purple chemical that she had just created and tossed it out the window. Slowly, she walked towards the window and stuck her head to look below. She couldn't see anything but a thick purple mist, but she did hear the groans and cries of agony from the soldiers below along with the inhuman growls of a savage beast. The empress smiled when the mist faded and revealed several hundred Eltarian troops on the ground, apparently having fallen unconscious._

_"Works like a charm," she said, "now I can produce more."_

-o-

Zedd's personal library, one of several rooms recently opened up since Zedd's arrival, was a massive collection of ancient texts and books, having been preserved for many eons. For the past hour thanks to his superior speed and his restored wings, Goldar had gone through all of them, but couldn't find anything remotely useful to his master. The thought was quickly removed from his mind when he noticed Lord Zedd looking up at him.

"I'm sorry, master." the Titan quivered. "I couldn't find anything."

"Of course not, fool!" Zedd growled, "You don't even know what you're looking for!"

Goldar winced as he slowly floated towards the dusted floor. He approached Zedd and bowed before him. Zedd stared unimpressively and marched towards the nearest bookshelf.

"Whatever had struck the Rangers and my monster must have had something to do with magic that I am not familiar with." he said, "I need to observe the turn of events. Continue 'searching.'"

Goldar buried himself in his thoughts as Zedd took off. His mind went back to the moment when the monster was destroyed, but as he visualized the fighting, something had suddenly occurred to him. Something that he could have missed the first time he saw it, but he wasn't quite sure. Puzzled, he returned to his personal chamber and positioned himself in a state of meditation. Upon closing his eyes, he found himself in the fight, where the Power Rangers were fighting the monster. The moment the monster exploded, Goldar winced as he noticed something peculiar about the monster's destruction; an odd-colored mist that was difficult to see. As Goldar stepped closer to examine...

...his eyes opened wide and Goldar stood up almost instinctively, drawing his broadsword. He looked around and found himself in his own chamber, apparently having kicked out of his meditated state. He let out a heavy sigh and walked out of the chamber and into the narrow halls of the palace.

-o-

Tommy's eyes were affixed on the wooden ceiling of his bedroom of his uncle's cabin, where he would usually go whenever he felt down or needed a change in environment. Originally before the whole incident, the Rangers were to have joined up here for the weekend. Tommy even suggested bringing new allies Rocky DeSantos, Adam Park, and Aisha Campbell with them, but they told him they needed to work out some paperwork concerning their transfer to Angel Grove High School. However, the recent situation changed all that. Only Tommy and Jason were occupying the cabin, while the other four Rangers were at the Command Center, infected with some unknown affliction that Zordon has trouble recognizing. So for the past hour, Tommy tried to sleep but found himself staring at the ceiling most of the time.

_I can't take this_, he thought, _I have to do something._

So he promptly jumped out of bed and sneaked out the window, careful not to cause any noise that would wake Jason up. A leap to the ground later, Tommy started on a jog towards the park. After fifteen minutes of jogging, Tommy passed by the familiar lake and stopped for a moment, looking on as the midnight moon reflected on the ripples of the lake. Reflecting on better times...

"Couldn't sleep?"

Almost surprised, Tommy turned to see Jason leaning by a tree also looking on by the lake, a heavy look forming on his face as he shook his head.

"Distracted by what happened," he answered.

Jason sighed. "Yeah. Me too."

There was an unsettling silence between the two Rangers and long-time friends as both stared at the lake, the clouds clearing from the moon.

"Why weren't we affected?" Tommy asked, puzzled. "Why are we still healthy?"

Jason didn't have an answer. "I don't know."

-o-

A round room made of hard diamond... located in the moon. The place seemed spotless, with the exception of purplish gooed footprints on the crystal floor. The source, the creature from the lunar pit, stared into its reflection and screamed. After a long bellow, it shattered the crystal wall with one swipe of its clawed hands, revealing a metal room with two shadowed individuals. The shorter man, a scientist-turned-petty thug named Ethan Kain, was sitting down look at the various scanning monitors while the larger man, the one that brought the creature in, looked on.

"The creature's power signatures are incredible," Kain said, "Nothing like I have ever seen."

The larger man grunted, "Don't be surprised, Kain. This creature is the product of ancient alchemy and alien science, nothing on earth could have produced this."

"And yet he's found on Earth's moon, along with the rest of the aliens." Kain added. He looked on as the creature continued to shatter walls in the crystal room. "His mind is a void, you know. He'll be difficult to control, if at all possible."

His partner smiled. "I'll take care of it, Kain."

Almost immediately, the shadowed man vanished from beside Kain and reappeared in front of the creature. The creature calmed down, took a step back, and breathed heavily. The large man took a step forward and studied the creature for a moment. It was a pretty menacing sight to behold and by looking around the room with pieces of shattered diamond scattered about, it had the strength to prove it.

"You're a pretty powerful bastard, aren't you?"

The creature grunted, but did not motion for attack.

The larger man sighed. "I don't know if you're understanding me, but either way,I'm going to give you a choice. You're either going to fight with us or we kill you. Believe me, your powerful armor shell is no match for the powers I have."

The creature looked into the large man's red eye for seconds before giving a nod and an affirmative grunt. The large man smiled and fired a beam of energy towards the last remaining diamond wall, shattering it to pieces. The blast revealed another door, which the large man walked towards with the creature slowly following him.

In the small observation room, Ethan Kain smiled. "That went better than I anticipated."

-o-

Saturday morning at the cabin was dreadful. Tommy and Jason both managed to return to the cabin and fall asleep at around 2:35 a.m. and promptly both woke up around 7:15 a.m. Knowing that it was worthless to call Zordon for an update, both went for a morning jog that lasted about an hour, followed by a half-hour of sparring. By 8:45 a.m., Tommy was cooking scrambled eggs while Jason squeezed some fresh oranges into two individual glasses. By 8:50 a.m., both had a plate of yellow scrambled eggs with a full glass of fresh orange juice.

"How's the juice?" Jason asked.

Tommy sampled the juice and proceeding to drink the glass. "Best juice I've had. How's the eggs?"

Likewise, Jason sampled the eggs and nodded in approval. "Very good. I didn't know you could cook eggs."

Tommy winced. "Just about the only thing there is in this place."

For the rest of the morning, things were relatively calm. Both sparred, both went for mornings jogs, both stopped by the ballpark to do some batting, anything that would pre-occupy them. At about 9:30 a.m., roughly a half-hour of activities ended when their communicators beeped.

"Yes, Zordon?"

"_Rangers. Return to the Command Center immediately._"

Both Jason and Tommy nodded to each other and activated the communicator's teleport button, subsequently vanishing in red and white light. When the two materialized in the Command Center, they both looked up at the sage, who was almost hesitant in saying anything.

"Did you find anything, Alpha?"

Alpha 5 took a moment before answering the White Ranger, "The sickness that the Rangers have been afflicted seems to originate from compounds of a rare biochemical substance. From Gamma Tri."

Tommy's eyes widened upon hearing those words. "Gamma Tri? As in that wax Rita had?"

"_Yes,_" Zordon answered, "_somehow the Rangers had gotten in contact with Gamma Tri substances either through battle or some other means unknown to me. Apparently these traces of Gamma Tri had been discovered in the Rangers' blood._"

"How come we weren't affected?" the Red Ranger asked, his voice calm but a hint of anger evident.

"Since Jason has never made contact with any Gamma-Tri substance, he isn't susceptible to the plague," Alpha explained, "As far as you're concerned, Tommy, it could be possible when the Green Candle completely burned out and your Rangers powers were lost the first time that the Gamma Tri particles may have been eliminated."

"So you do know where this came from?" Jason asked, earning a look of bewilderment from the White Ranger.

Alpha nodded lightly, "I have some idea, but it require further study before I can be certain."

At that moment, the alarms blared loudly. Alpha went into panic mode as Jason and Tommy look to their mentor who was in deep thought.

"_Rangers,_" the sage announced, "_There is a disturbance in Angel Grove Park. Observe the viewing globe._"

The Rangers turned to the viewing globe, where a grotesque creature was in battle with several clay creatures and a winged Titan; familiar characters to the Red and White Rangers.

"Goldar," Tommy mouthed, "And putties."

Jason nodded in agreement and took a closer look. "Looks like they're fighting someone creature."

"_According to my scans, this creature is not a creation of Lord Zedd._" Zordon added, "_In fact, the origins of this creature are a complete mystery._"

Tommy took a look at Jason before turning his attention to the globe. "Then what is it?"

-o-

The creature lashed out at the nearest Putty Patroller, its clawed hand ripping through the clay creature's "Z" plate that had been the source of its power. Two other putties attempt to sneak up on the creature, but the creature turned quickly and blow out a purplish mist. Before they could react, the two putties were enveloped in the mist and subsequently melted to a purplish substance. From afar, Goldar watched in awe as this strange creature was easily defeating the best of Lord Zedd's minions.

"This isn't one of Lord Zedd's creations!" the titan growled, "What is this?

"You don't recognize the creature, master Goldar?"

The Titan almost froze when he heard the voice, almost as if he recognized the elderly voice. Slowly, Goldar turned around to see the person who spoke. Upon realization, Goldar's jaw almost dropped at the sight of a large man with spiked shoulders and a shorter man whom he instantly recognized.

"Kain?"

Kain nodded affirmatively. "Yes, Master Goldar. It is I."

"What are you doing here, Kain?" the Titan demanded, " And who is that behind you?"

"This is an... acquaintance of mine." Kain replied, his voice trailing off.

"Back off, Kain. I'll handle this," the larger man stepped forward as he spoke, "my name is Argo and this is the collection of lost souls known as Plaghe."

Goldar stared at the creature. "Plaghe? You mean...?"

"That's right." Argo answered, smiling. "This creature, associated with a former boss of yours, was indirectly responsible for the crippling of the so-called 'Power Rangers' you're trying so hard to destroy."

Almost on cue, the Red and White Power Rangers immediately materialized before the small group, who immediately noticed their arrivals. Red Ranger immediately went into a defensive stance, while White Ranger stepped forward with his right fist raised at Argo and his crew.

"Whoever or whatever you are," White Ranger called, a hint of rage evident in his voice, "you're going DOWN!"

Argo smirked. "Doubtful. Plaghe... kill them."

Both the Red and White Rangers braced themselves as the creature called Plaghe lunged at them.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Part 3

**MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS**

**PLAGUE**

Written by DTM666

Chapter Three

Originally Published On : May 2004 to August 2004

Disclaimer: The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.

-o-

_"Is this wise, me lady?" the elder monster asked the empress in reference the armored creature that stood before them, "This creature is extremely dangerous. His claws can shatter tough diamond surfaces almost effortlessly and his mind can almost non-existent. Even the micro-controller I shot at him is having a hard time keeping him at bay._

_The empress scoffed. "That's right. He's a dangerous creature who has strength and special abilities that are of use to me."_

_The creature took one step into the pool of green ooze. Slowly, he tipped over slowly and drowned until he was completely submerged within the liquid. The empress then approached the pool and poured the vial of purple liquid onto the surface. It took a minute before the green ooze slowly became a faint purple. When the entire pool was purple, the empress performed a chant that solidified the ooze._

_"Plaghe." she muttered, "Such a fitting name for a creature who will bring about death and destruction when the time beckons it."_

-o-

The creature known as Plaghe had been outnumbered by the two Rangers, but hardly seemed fazed or distracted by the handicap, as its strength was enough to keep Jason and Tommy at bay. White Ranger gave a single to the Red Ranger to summon his sword and just as he did that, he pulled out Saba, his own enchanted saber. Plaghe jumped at the White Ranger, who managed to roll away, swiping the saber across one of the creature's clawed hands to little success. Another swipe from Saba was blocked by Plaghe, who followed up with a quick, but painful backhand that knocked Tommy to the ground. Jason tried his own jump-in attack with Power Sword in hand, but the creature proved too quickly as he sent that same hand slashing across the Red Ranger's chest, causing several sparks to fly from his suit as he tumbled to the dirt ground.

As soon as Plaghe took out both Rangers, Goldar jumped in and attempted various slashes towards the creature's head, but Plaghe was able to block all of them effortless with blinding speed. Goldar continued his flurry of attacks, with Plaghe blocking or dodging every single attack that came his way. A critical miss on Goldar's part left an opening and Plaghe took advantage with one quick clothesline across the Titan's head, knocking him to the ground in thunderous fashion. Standing over the fallen warrior, Plaghe was about to deliver the killing blow, but laser beams stunned him momentarily. He turned his attention towards the Red and White Rangers, who continued fired with their respective weapons. While Saba's energy beams were powerful, they were somewhat slow, but they were more than enough to complement the faster firing rate of Jason's blaster, which had been set on maximum power. Both weapons managed to push back Plaghe further away from Goldar until the titan was able to get back on his feet. While the Rangers dealt with Plaghe, he approached the small human known as Ethan Kain.

"What is going on here, Kane?" the Titan demanded. "Who is this acquaintance of yours?"

"I'm doing what I have always done, master Goldar," Kain said quietly, "I'm serving the empress."

Plaghe staggered back from the ongoing laser blasts of the Rangers until Argo stepped in and fired an burst of energy beam at them. Both Rangers rolled out of the way.

Goldar shook his head in disbelief. "The fallen witch is gone," he told Kain, "Lord Zedd is in command now."

White Ranger leapt at Argo, Saba raised above his head, but Argo blasted him away and watched as Plaghe rushed at the fallen Tommy. Argo's momentary distraction gave Jason the opening he needed as he attempted the same failed jump-in attack. To his amazement, the attack hit Argo in the chest and caused the villain to recoil a step.

Kain shook his head in disagreement. "She isn't fallen, Master. She planned the entire thing."

"What?" the Titan seemed almost shocked.

Jason and Argo fought each other, with Jason using his various repertoire of karate moves while Argo relied on his fists to do the blocking and countering of blows. This incompatibility of fighting style seemed to have caused neither man to get a significant advantage.

Tommy managed to land one blow across the back of Plaghe's head and from there, it was all about dodging the creature's attacks and avoiding its clawed hands. The creature did manage to score a hit on the White Ranger, who seemed stunned as he noticed the claws had caused deep scars across his chest shield. He recovered long enough to dodge Plaghe's other attack.

"She's the one who released the virus onto the Rangers," Kain revealed delightedly, "Don't you remember her genetic plague?"

After two full minutes of blocked moves, Argo raised a knee to Jason's chest. Jason clutched his chest in pain as Argo stood back and began building up mystic energies between his hands. When the energies were built up enough to form a ball, Argo shot it at the Red Ranger, who managed to recover quickly to block the attack with his sword.

"Jason, watch out!" he heard the White Ranger call out.

He turned quickly to see the creature Plaghe leaping at him. Jason managed to knock away the creature with a fierce swipe from his Power sword; the blow sent Plaghe smashing to a tree much to the surprise of Argo.

"You can't do that!" Argo said angrily, "That creature's indestructible!"

Red Ranger smiled. "Nothing's indestructible."

Jason stayed on Plaghe with several swipes, passing by so quickly that the creature was unable to defend against them. For each passing blow landed, several pieces of purple stone chipped off Plaghe's outer skin. Each blow from the Red Ranger proved much more fierce than the last, making them all the more painful for the creature Plaghe. One final upward slash later, Plaghe was flying and smashed into another nearby tree.

"Her genetic plague?" Goldar asked, confused. "How did you know about that?"

Kain shrugged. "She confided in me her greatest secrets while you were getting beaten by them." he said, pointing to the White Ranger.

When Plaghe got back up, he noticed Goldar close to Kain and approached the duo. Goldar, on the corner of his eye, noticed the creature and raised his sword to attempt an attack, but was met with a purple mist that Plaghe had blown out. The mist had gotten to his eyes and caused him groan and crumble in pain. His blood soon started to burn and with one sword stab to the grass, he teleported away.

Argo rushed towards Plaghe and Kain and turned to face the two Rangers, who stood side-by-side away from the trio. Argo crossed his arms together and soon all three vanished into thin air. The instant that happened, the Rangers' communicators chimed.

"Good timing," Jason said, smiling behind his helmet.

Tommy nodded and spoke into his communicator. "Go ahead."

"_Are you alright?_" It was Zordon.

"A bit tired, but we'll live," Tommy answered, his eyes glancing to the back of his damaged shield, "Any idea who these three freaks are, Zordon?"

"_I am not familiar with the two humans you fought against,_" the sage said, "_According to my scans, their monstrous creature looks to be a Druurg, a savage beast with powerful claws and durable outer skinn. But Druurg never showed this much ferocity, which means the two humans have somehow managed to enhance this Druurg's strength._"

"That guy, Argo, called it Plagh,." Jason commented, "Could that mean anything, Zordon?"

"_I will have to check into it, Rangers,_" he said, "_For now, the only course of action would be to continue with your day. Until we find the last piece of the puzzle, there is not much we can do at the moment._"

Tommy sighed. "Sure thing, Zordon."

-o-

The Titan limped his way through the dark, hollow halls of the Lunar Palace. Ripping pieces of his armor off his arms, he seemed almost worried to see some of his veins turn a pale purple. Goldar soon quickened his pace as he passed by the throne room without entering. By the corner of his eye, he saw Zedd seated on his throne, staring at what was presumably the Earth over the balcony. He didn't so much as turn his head to see Goldar, which made the Titan somewhat relieved.

_Good_, he thought, _Zedd doesn't notice me._

With his strength and consciousness slowly fading, Goldar limped to Finster's alchemy laboratory, to which he hadn't passed by since Rita was ousted little more than a couple months ago. The titan almost felt relieved when the door to the elder monster-maker's lab was open and promptly crawled his way in, just in time to catch Finster's attention.

"F-Finster... help me." he said just before falling unconscious.

-o-

In the pitch blackness of the night, the park seemed desolate. The only source of light came from a white teleport beam. Materializing from the beam was the small robot Alpha 5, who was holding a small handheld scanner. He walked towards the battle area where the Rangers and the Druurg creature fought. Using night vision mode, Alpha searched for the small pieces of outer skin that had been chipped off during the fight. Whenever Alpha found a piece, he aimed the scanner, which emitted a low pulse at the piece and stored it into the scanner's small storage system. When sufficient pieces were collected, Alpha promptly de-activated the scanner and pulled out a disruptor pistol. Pulling the trigger, he made a full circle turn as the disruptor's green beam covered the grassy ground around the robot, destroying whatever remaining pieces of skin was left over. The task done, Alpha teleported back to the Command Center.

-o-

"I recognized the Druurg's strength." Goldar said as Finster treated him with a large injection needle, "But I never expected it to have these strange powers."

"A result of the virus Rita created, no doubt." Finster said conclusively, pulling the needle from the Titan's exposed arm, "The virus reacts differently to each being it infects. In the case of Druurgs, it enhances their strength and contaminates their venom so that the virus spreads."

Goldar nodded in agreement but looked up. "I thought the virus causes a reaction with Gamma Tri compound."

"The Druurg is of Gamma Tri origin," Finster stated, "and if I remember correctly, you've had contact with some of the wax when you were cleaning it up after the Green Ranger."

Goldar frowned when Finster mentioned that time, which produced a smile from Rita's former monster maker. His embarrassed frown was quickly replaced with a determined look.

"We must bring this before Lord Zedd." the Titan declared with authority, "He has a right to know about what has transpired."

Finster turned to face the titan, seemingly trying to keep from laughing. "Know what? That Rita was responsible for a creature like that?" he asked, "Do you really expect him to believe that, considering how low in the food chain she's in? Do you know how much he get a laugh out of it? My friend, he doesn't need to know."

Goldar considered it for a moment and saw Finster's point. "Can this... condition be cured?"

Finster took off his eye spectacles before answering. "It will take some time to concoct a permanent solution, as I do not have sufficient resources. However, I can develop a temporary vaccine that can momentary restore your strength, but it will not last long."

The Titan snarled in response. "It will have to do... until I find a more permanent solution."

-o-

Tommy sat on the beach looking onward to the sea, his mind trying to make sense of the many events that have happened this past day. With Jason at the Command Center helping out Alpha, Tommy decided he needed some air. Getting cooped up in the small chamber during the creation of White Ranger was too much for him; he couldn't stand staying there again with the four fallen Rangers in biobeds, fighting for their lives against a virus of which they have no knowledge of. His mind wandered as to...

"Going somewhere, Ranger?"

His thoughts interrupted, Tommy jumped to his feet quickly and turned to find the metahuman called Argo standing behind him. How he had figured out Tommy's identity as the White Ranger didn't matter at the moment; what mattered was defeating this enemy in hopes of curing his friends from their current plight.

No time to call Jason, he thought, Have to take him down now!

Tommy reached for his morpher, but Argo was quick to knock it off his hands. Instinctively, Tommy went for a roundhouse kick to the chest, which Argo promptly blocked. Argo threw the leg away and rammed his fist across Tommy's jaw, knocking the teenager out on impact. Argo stared at the fallen Ranger for a moment, looking for any signs of consciousness. When none was found, he picked up Tommy and slumped his body over his shoulder.

"You're coming with me, punk." Argo said, "I'll deal with the Red Ranger later."

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. Part 4

**MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS**

**PLAGUE**

Written by DTM666

Chapter Four

Originally Published On : May 2004 to August 2004

Disclaimer: The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.

-o-

"_Tommy's been captured by the metahuman_."

Those were the first words Jason Scott had heard as soon as he materialized in the Command Center, where Alpha was working with some equipment. Jason did sense a bit of disappointment, but decided to set it aside and stay focused. For the moment, he was the only active Ranger left over.

"When did this happen?" Jason asked coolly.

"Around midnight." Alpha said, "The good news is that we've managed to track Tommy down to the old Energy Plant in the outskirts of the abandoned warehouse district, but I can't teleport him out because of the unusual amount of radioactive activity present."

Jason raised an eyebrow. "What about the others?"

"_From the skin tissue of the Druurg beast Alpha collected overnight,_" Zordon said, "_I have managed to confirm that this 'disease' is a biogenetic compound developed by Rita many eons ago. The compound was designed to react violently with Gamma-Tri based compounds. In essence, any living being with Gamma-Tri infection would suffer greatly or instantly be killed within a matter of seconds._"

"So there's no way to save them." Jason said, defeated.

"Not precisely, Jason," Alpha chimed in, "I've had time to study the behavior of the virus for some time now and learned that it's only in its early stages, which means there's a greater chance that I can cure them and eliminate the virus completely. I have developed a serum overnight that may neutralize the virus by eliminating the Gamma Tri substances from their bloodstream. However, I've only made enough for one Ranger. It'll take me time to create enough for all of them."

"Start with Billy first, Alpha," Jason said instantly as Alpha worked with the controls. "If there's going to be some computer work needed, I need his skills."

With a few button presses, Alpha plucked the floating vial of liquid that had suddenly materialized in front of him and placed in within an energy sprayer. Setting the sprayer to a slow beam, he aimed the device at Billy and fired the beam for ten seconds, then stopped. He popped out the almost-empty vial and placed it on the console. A few more button pressed caused the vial to disappear.

Crossing his fingers that this worked, Jason looked on as Alpha started doing a scan on Billy. Judging by the steadiness of the robot's movements and the lack of his signature cry when something goes wrong, Jason took that as a good sign that the serum was working and that Billy was getting better. His hopes were confirmed when he heard his friend groan in slight pain, so he decided to take a closer look and saw Billy's eyes slowly opening up.

"_How are you feeling, Billy?_"

Billy scratched his head for a moment. "I have a minor headache, but I appear to be functioning within acceptable parameters." He noticed Jason raising an eyebrow. "I feel fine."

"_The serum that Alpha had developed from Plaghe's tissue seems to be working,_" Zordon said, "_If you are fit for action, Billy, we need your assistance formulating a battle plan to rescue Tommy._"

Billy rolled his eyes at the mention of 'rescue Tommy'. "Again?" he asked in an amused tone. "Some leader."

Jason smiled. "Yeah, I know. But don't tell Tommy that. You'll hurt his feelings." His smiled quickly faded and his face stiffened. "Anyway, Alpha says that Tommy's being held in the Energy Plant in the abandoned warehouse district."

Billy shook his head. "That can't be. The plant was abandoned months ago because of an irreparable radiation leak." he said as he slowly sat up, "No one should be able to survive that."

"_Proceed to the Energy Plant using the Battle Bikes,_" Zordon suggested, gaining the attention of the two conscious Rangers, "_Its stealth shielding and silent humming will enable you to get there undetected._"

Both Billy and Jason faced each other and nodded. "Let's do it."

-o-

Barely able to stay awake, Tommy opened his eyes slowly blinking the sleep out of them as he stared at a metallic-looking ceiling. When he sat up, he found himself in a metal chamber. Jumping to his feet, he looked out the sole entrance of the small compact chamber he was in to find another larger room, metal walls and blinking lights making up the surrounding. Tommy began taking a step forward, but stopped when he noticed the faint red glow on the edge of the large entrance.

"Took you long enough to wake up."

Tommy shook his head and found Argo standing him. Tommy took a couple steps forward, but stopped when Argo pulled out a small, rounded rock and tossed it at the Ranger. Before Tommy could react, the rock was soon engulfed in white light and turned into white powder that was also slowly disappearing, leaving behind a trail of bright-blue lights.

"I wouldn't suggest trying to escape if I were you," Argo warned, waving his finger, "that's a fifty terawatt force field keeping you in there. Just so much as a light tap will cause instant incineration and quite frankly, I would prefer if you stayed alive."

Tommy, after careful thought, took a step back and sat down on the wooden chair, much to the approval of Argo.

"I've got a proposition for you, Thomas." he said, "Drop the ridiculous good guy join my organization and I will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams."

"Sorry," Tommy scoffed, "price is too high for me."

"Come on." Argo said, "Think of the opportunities I'm presenting you. A Ranger being part of the biggest crime syndicate in the United States. Do you know the kind of power you'll earn if you accept my offer?"

Tommy shook his head. "Been there, done that, got bored real quick."

Argo's fist suddenly shook quickly and hard enough for Tommy to take notice, but he managed to make it stop. The metahuman grunted and left the White Ranger behind in his prison. Tommy smiled at himself for this moral victory, but that didn't help in finding a way out of here.

-o-

The Battle Bike was a rarely-used ground vehicle that the Rangers knew about but never used, since its functions were never of much use. This time, however, the Battle Bike's quick speed and stealth control, among other gimmicks, were a necessity as Red Ranger (with Billy sitting behind him) guided it through the warehouse district onto the abandoned Energy Plant, which was visibly ahead. From what Jason could see, the plant itself was relatively lifeless, with only a few blinking lights here and there. By the time they reached the front gate, the Rangers got off the Battle Bike and slowly approached the main door, noticing that it was closed and no operating panel was in sight.

"Door's sealed shut," Red Ranger said, "We have to find another way in."

Blue Ranger looked around and noticed a manhole lid close to the nearby tower. He made a quick jog for it, with Red Ranger slowly following. When both reached the lid, both kneeled down and popped the lid off, releasing a small mist of smoke from the inner tunnel.

"If the villain is of Terran origin," Billy said, "there would be a high probability he would establish an base of operations in this underground network of tunnels."

"Would we have a problem keeping contact with Zordon down there?" Jason asked.

"I doubt it," Billy answered, "but nevertheless, I'd recommend caution. There's very little known about the tunnels since the public specs were always so limited."

The Rangers dropped down the open hole into a dark tunnel, conspicuously manmade with the standard construction material, but there was also some metal panels scattered about at random spots along the walls, floor, and ceiling. Dim lighting was a rare object in this place. Both Rangers looked around and saw the tunnel going two ways.

"We'll have to split up," Red Ranger suggested, "You go this way, I'll go that way."

"Right" was Blue Ranger's only answer and so they went their separate ways.

-o-

"I take it your discussion with the White Ranger didn't go so well, did it?"

The words of Ethan Kain were basically ignored by Argo, who entered the room looking like he wanted to break something. Kain shook his head in embarrassment; for a super-powered intellect, the guy has a temper. But nonetheless, Kain decided not to press any further, especially if he needs Argo in furthering his own plans.

"Nothing but a dumb stupid kid," Argo said, "That gives me a good example of who I'm dealing with here. A bunch of dumb stupid kids!"

Kain smiled. "Rita chose this 'dumb stupid kid' to be the Green Ranger because he was an excellent fighter, not because he displayed much common sense. Quite frankly, I haven't a clue as to why he's still a Ranger."

Argo merely grunted, deciding to change the subject, "What about Plaghe? I haven't heard his growls in some time."

"He's prowling around in the tunnels, searching for intruders." Kain said, his voice suddenly void of emotion.

Argo blinked in surprise. "You let him go?"

"Relax," Kain said, "he won't stray too far. Besides, if by some chance he gets downed, we still have plan B to execute."

Before Argo could respond, the warning klaxon buzzed and a red light above Kain's console blinks brightly. Argo walked to the console and studied the readout on the monitor. From the expression of Argo's face, Kain assumed things are going badly, but doesn't press the matter.

"It seems we have unwanted guests." Argo scowled, "I'm going to check it out."

-o-

Tommy sat in his cell looking around for some kind of escape means, but to his dismay, couldn't find any. He had attempted communication, but all he received was static. He had considered morphing, but since he didn't know enough about the force field that held him. In the distance, he saw a figure entering the room and smiled in relief when he recognized the figure as one of his friends.

"Billy!" Tommy called out, "Over here!"

"Tommy!" Blue Ranger called as he stopped and ran to Tommy's chamber.

"Stay back!" Tommy warned, "The force field'll vaporize you if you touch it."

Blue Ranger stopped in his tracks, his left foot narrowly missing the force field. He cocked his head towards a small control panel on the right side of the door and ran to it. He played with several switches before the force field shined a dim red and faded. Blue Ranger picked up a piece of paper on the floor, crumbled it up, and tossed it at Tommy. Instinctively, Tommy caught the paper ball with both hands and promptly stepped out of the chamber.

"Are you alright?" Blue Ranger asked, sounding somewhat relieved.

Tommy nodded. "I thought you were infected."

"I was until a short while ago," Billy answered, "Alpha had developed a serum that neutralized the effects of the disease as well as destroy whatever traces of Gamma-Tri contaminants that remained in my system. It won't bother me again."

The sound of a pair of hands clapping together soon echoed in the room, prompting both Rangers to turn to its source; the metahuman threat responsible for the day's events.

"That was really touching," Argo taunted, "but now you've reached the end of the road."

At a snap of his fingers, five completely-featureless humanoid robots surrounded the two Rangers as Argo suddenly vanished almost at the same time. Blue Ranger immediately summoned his signature Power Lance while Tommy fell into a defensive stance.

"Metal putties," Tommy scoffed, "Just what I needed."

-o-

Red Ranger ventured deeper into the tunnel, looking around the place for anything peculiar. But these tunnels are so mind numbingly similar to each other that if it wasn't for the occasional red-lettered markings, it would be very easy to get lost in these things. Fortunately, Red Ranger had marked his trail by firing low-intensity beams on the floor with his Blade Blaster that caused the spots he shot at to glow red as he went further down. This way, he could find his way back or someone could find him.

Almost suddenly and without warning, three flying spherical droids, each with red optical sensors, sped at the Red Ranger, who managed to roll out of their way. The droids turned around and went for another pass, but were subsequently shot down by Red Ranger's Blade Blaster. Surveying for more droids, Red Ranger pushed onward until he reached the end of the tunnel; a huge blast door the size of the tunnel's circular construction. Red Ranger took a step forward and placed a hand on the door. Almost immediately, the giant doors slowly opened to review a metal-surfaced room.

Red Ranger studied the room before taking a step in. As soon as he was completely inside, the door immediately began to close quickly and slammed closed. Red Ranger approached the door and tried to pry it open, but couldn't.

He turned his head to see the creature Plaghe leaping at him with great speed...

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Part 5

**MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS**

**PLAGUE**

Written by DTM666

Chapter Five

Originally Published On : May 2004 to August 2004

Disclaimer: The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.

-o-

"Metal putties." Tommy scoffed, "Just what I needed."

The five bots all attacked at once, dividing the two Rangers. Blue Ranger managed to fend off three bots, but not necessarily land a successful blow. Tommy had two bots to deal with, but they weren't push overs. One attempted punch across the 'face' of one of the bots was Tommy to clutch his fist in agony. One of the bots took the opportunity to strike, but Tommy was able to dodge the attack... barely.

"You know, Tommy," Blue Ranger called out as he blocked a bot's overhead chop with his lance, "Morphin' Time was about a couple seconds ago!" That last comment was yelled in agitation.

In typical Tommy fashion, he had completely forgotten about morphing, as he got caught in the moment. Realizing that, Tommy managed to kick one of the bots back to a wall (the pain not as bad) and managed to toss another to the floor, giving himself space to pull out his morpher and make the call.

"Tigerzord!"

Now instantly morphed, White Ranger rushed towards another random bot close by. With several kicks followed by a quick Saba swipe, the bot flipped backward and crashed onto the surface, twitching for a few seconds before laying there motionless. He turned to see Blue Ranger forcibly thrust his Power Lance through another bot's chest and tossing it overhead across the room. Tommy looked in awe as the bot smashed onto the wall, breaking apart on impact.

With three bots remaining, both Blue and White Rangers looked them down. When the bots ran at them, both Rangers fired high-powered beams at them; Billy with his Blade Blaster and Tommy with Saba. The beams didn't do external damage, but they were enough to push them back. Suddenly, an idea crept up Blue Ranger's mind.

"Tommy," Billy called, "I got a plan."

Knowing what his friend had in mind, White Ranger managed to deliver blows to all three bots while Blue Ranger leapt to the small panel near the chamber. White Ranger quickly made a sprint towards his 'cell', with the three bots in pursuit. When he was in the 'cell', he gave the thumbs up to Blue Ranger, who pressed a series of commands. Almost instantaneously, the force field was re-activated, momentarily glowing a dim red that separated Tommy and the three approaching bots. Not surprisingly to White Ranger, the bots kept going and made contact with the force field, dissolving into thin air upon impact. With that done, Billy deactivated the force field and Tommy stepped out.

"Good job, man." White Ranger said, "But now that Argo guy's gone."

"We'll worry about him later, Tommy." Blue Ranger assured, "We need to find Jason."

-o-

The Red Ranger turned quickly as he saw the creature lunge at him with great speed, claws fully extended for the eventual kill. Not having any other option, Red Ranger did a couple of backflips to give some distance between himself and the creature. Plaghe continued his approach towards Jason, whom continued to back off slowly.

"Jason," he heard Billy's voice over the communicator, "I've found Tommy."

"Good," Red Ranger said as he narrowly avoided a claw swipe from Plaghe, "Now get your asses over here NOW!"

Red Ranger quickly launched from the floor and extended his fist at Plaghe, but the creature swatted the Ranger to a wall with incredible force. So much that the Ranger smashed through the closest metal wall into another room. Jason felt some stinging all over, but the sensation quickly faded. Red Ranger got back on his feet and saw the hole on the wall he had formed; the metal had completely shattered and at some points, some molten form of metal was seen dripping. From the other side of the wall, Red Ranger saw Plaghe emerge and looked on wide-eyed as the Druurg destroyed the rest of the wall with several claw swipes, the division of two rooms completely destroyed as the metal wall was either ripped apart or melted away.

Just as Plaghe was about to go for another attack on the Red Ranger, a shadowed figure lunged at the creature. The stiff kick was enough for Plaghe to get knocked back a couple steps. Red Ranger regained his bearings and took a close look at the figure. His mouth almost dropped when he realized who it was.

"Goldar?"

"I will deal with you later, Red Ranger!" the titan growled, "Right now, the Druurg is mine!"

Red Ranger stood there, breathing slowly as he watched Goldar battled Plaghe, countering every one of the creature's attacks with his own, which would quickly be blocked. However, Jason noticed that the sluggish movement in each of the Titan's blows, almost as if he wasn't fighting at full strength. His thought was confirmed when Plaghe struck down Goldar with a fierce-looking headbutt.

Goldar shook the dizziness off and jumped to his feet. Plaghe attempted another claw attack, but it missed and left him open. With Goldar keeping Plaghe busy, Red Ranger took a few seconds to summon another rarely-used item: the Pulse Blaster which was originally used to defeat Rita's super-putties a year ago. Holding the awkward weapon in his hand, Red Ranger aimed at the two dueling monsters.

"Get down!" he heard himself shout to the titan. God, did I just tell Goldar of all people to get out of the way?

Goldar, noticing the Red Ranger aiming his Pulse Blaster in his direction, stepped out of the way. With Plaghe in his sights, Red Ranger pulled the slinger back and let go, releasing a compacted burst of energy from the barrel and flying straight into the chest of Plaghe. To Jason's surprise, the blast did not have much of an effect on him. He tried another shot, which caused Plaghe to recoil back a step but wasn't enough to do much harm.

With not much going for him, Jason took the Blade Blaster and combined it with the Pulse Blaster so that it formed one weapon. Pulling the slinger of the blaster back, Red Ranger aimed the weapon at the creature again. After a second, he released the slinger and the barrels of the two merged blasters fired two laser bursts that combined into a single energy blast. The blast struck Plaghe with desirable results as the creature recoiled further towards the wall.

"If you want to finish him," he called to the Titan, "You're going to have to help me do it!"

Goldar thought for a moment and nodded. Having regained his strength, he stood to his feet and held his broadsword with both hands. Sliding his hand alongside the blade of the sword caused it to glow. When the blade had reached a prefered illuminating glow, Goldar extended the sword towards Plaghe, several bolts of fire flying from the blade and striking the creature at various points. This barrage of bolts, combined with energy blasts from Red Ranger's Pulse/Blade Blaster combination, did the damage as Plaghe cried out in pain and eventually slumped to the ground, losing consciousness almost immediately.

"It's dead." the Titan said to the Red Ranger, "It's going to stay that way for the moment."

Goldar took one last look at the fallen Plaghe and started to walk, but stopped when he heard the Ranger ask, "Why did you-?"

"Clear that thought from your head, Ranger." he spat, "I didn't come to save you, I came to get a sample of the Druurg's blood for the cure."

"You're infected too?"

"That is none of your concern." The titan said before disappearing into the darkness, leaving the Red Ranger alone with an unconscious Plaghe.

-o-

Ethan Kain observed the battle between Plaghe and the Red Ranger & Goldar through his monitors and shook his head in disappointment. He saw Goldar leave the Red Ranger alone. He saw the Ranger stand in the room for a moment before approaching Plaghe. Kain noticed the Ranger pull out a needle from his glove (that's what it looked like on screen) and slowly stabbed it into the Druurg's arm. After a minute, he pulled it out and slipped it back into his glove (again, that's what it looked liked on screen) before walking out of sight. With no one in the room, Kain inputted some commands into the computer system and watched as light surrounded Plaghe. The monitor soon shut off and the words "Transport Complete" flashed in a small but legible font.

"Excellent," he muttered to himself, "My transponder signal isn't being blocked by the radiation from above."

Kain set a few more commands into the computer and the word "Completed" was shown. Kain was about to input another set of controls when, by the corner of his eye, he noticed a fast projectile headed towards him. As fast as a man his age could, he leapt out of the way and collapsed on the floor as the projectile stabbed itself to the monitor, causing several sparks to fly out from the consoles. When Kain got up, he took a closer look at the projectile sticking out, which he recognized as a broadsword of familiar design. Just as he feared, he turned to see the owner of the weapon in question and shivered in fear.

"M-Master Goldar!"

Goldar marched towards Kain with intent and immediately grabbed the old man by the neck, applying enough strength to hold him firmly without choking him to death.

"You're going to tell me everything you know, worm!" he demanded.

Kain tried to give an answer, but Goldar's grip became much firmer that it practically seemed like a choke. Goldar smiled as he saw this weakling human, who claims to be serving the empress, was fighting to get a breath out.

"Leave him alone, warrior." a voice from behind said.

Goldar turned and smiled as he saw Argo walk into the room. He tossed Kain aside and approached the destroyed console, pulling his sword from the damaged monitor screen, prompting the screen to explode.

Argo stiffened as he walked towards the titan, "How are we doing today, Goldust?"

"It's Goldar, fool!" the Titan growled angrily, "If you're going to insult me, at least have the decency of getting my name right."

"Please," Argo scoffed, "we're in the villain business. There's no such thing as decency in our line of work."

Around this point, Red Ranger had caught up with Goldar and noticed that he wasn't alone, as he recognized the metahuman Argo and saw Kain. Just behind him, the White and Blue Rangers were also catching up. The skittering of footsteps was enough for the titan and metahuman to turn their attention towards the three Rangers.

"Goldar. Argo. And an old guy I've never seen before." Jason observed, "Doesn't look too tough."

Goldar took a step back from Argo and towards the Rangers, prompting White Ranger take a defensive stance. "Stay back, Goldar!" he warned

Goldar rolled his eyes as he stood by the Rangers' side. "Shut up, White Ranger."

Argo saw the four standing before him and thought of going for a long-range strike, when he noticed that Kain was slowly and calmly walking towards the furthest wall. "Kain, what are you doing? Get out of here!"

"Taking matters into my own hands." Kain answered smugly. "I'm initiating Plan B."

The three Rangers looked among each other with confused expressions while Goldar looked on, a determined facial expression hiding his obvious feelings of confusion. He quickly glanced at Argo, who stared aimlessly and blankly at his 'partner'.

Kain pushed a button on the panel and soon the wall behind him faded, revealing a slightly-elevated circular platform with the unconscious Plaghe laying in the middle. The old man made his way to the creature's fallen body and stood before it. His spectators watched as Kain began chanting in a foreign tongue unfamiliar to any of them. As he did, his body faintly glowed purple along with Plaghe's body and the creature slowly brought itself to its feet.

"I've been planning this ever since I've learned of Rita's famed biogenetic plague and its first carrier." Kain's voice boomed throughout the room, "I have to confess, Argo. I never sided with you so you could have a powerful weapon. I sided with you because I needed a mindless simpleton to handle outside interference while I prepared for my ultimate plan."

Enraged by the shot at him, Argo mindlessly dashed towards the Plaghe/Kain form, but the creature raised its hand and fired an energy beam that completely enveloped his former partner. The Rangers and Goldar looked in awe, hearing the screams of Argo before the beam faded, leaving a trail of dust and skeleton bones scattered about. Almost instantaneously, explosions and sparks erupted in the room as the combined Plaghe/Kain form vanished in purple mist. The Rangers and Goldar went for cover, but there was no way out. As if things weren't bad enough, the four looked up and saw that the room started to cave in...

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. Part 6

**MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS**

**PLAGUE**

Written by DTM666

Chapter Six

Originally Published On : May 2004 to August 2004

Disclaimer: The author would like to clarify that Power Rangers and its characters is owned by Saban Brands and not the author.

-o-

The four materialized in a seemingly endless grassland, the dark skies with constant thunder and occasional bolts of lightning completing the environment. Goldar looked ahead while the three Rangers attempted communications and teleportation, but to no avail. From the distance, Goldar could see a small flicker of purplish light that grew closer and closer.

"Today, we fight this enemy together," Goldar said, almost sounding like a command, "but when this is over, so is our alliance."

Red Ranger nodded, while the Blue and White Rangers looked at each other, not wondering what's going on.

"Who is this Kain, Goldar?" Jason asked.

"Ethan Kain was the only human aide Rita had." the Titan answered, "Months ago when Rita was still in charge, he had somehow gained access to her database of magic. He was caught by Rita, but rather than destroy the human, she took him in as an apprentice, sharing her vast scientific and knowledge for. He had been rewarded with more alchemy knowledge than any other human on this planet."

He turned to the White Ranger. "Kain was the one responsible for the creation of the Green Candle which drained you of the Green Ranger powers. He was also the one responsible for infecting our Minotaur monster, which in turn infected some of you."

"Why are you telling us all this?" Red Ranger asked.

"Although my lord Zedd would want you all destroyed," the Titan mused, "he would rather have it done by a loyal soldier whom he knows has no other agenda than to serve him. Kain does not serve Zedd, which makes him our enemy."

White Ranger grunted. "Figures."

Before Goldar could respond, the small speck of purple suddenly grew large. The Rangers were able to make out the face of Ethan Kane, but with a large horn sticking out of his forehead; his once short hair replaced with waist-length purple hair, the armored skin and beastly innards of the creature Plaghe completing the form of this being of which birth at the cost of two.

"I'll give you a choice." the Kain/Plaghe hybrid said with a cold, beastly voice, "Surrender or die by the Plaguemaster's hand."

"Plaguemaster?" Goldar repeated mockingly, "You call yourself a master, Kain?"

As Goldar and Kain were in a war of words, White Ranger noticed Blue Ranger looking at his communicator.

"What is it, Billy?" he asked.

"Tommy," the Blue Ranger answer, "I'm getting a teleport signal, but it's brief."

"Good. Teleport back to the Command Center and brief Zordon on our current situation." White Ranger said, "If the others are recovered, on the next teleport signal you might get, get back here."

Blue Ranger nodded and teleported away. Almost at that moment, White Ranger turned to see Goldar taking a battle position. He and Red Ranger did the same. The battle had begun.

White Ranger was the first to attack the monster. He managed to dodge each of Kain's attacks and lands a kick to the monster's sternum, following that blow up with a swipe to the chest from Saba. Kain managed to regain momentum and punched White Ranger off the ground. Soon, Red Ranger jumped in and slashes the monster's shoulderpad with his Blade Blaster, but the monster managed a quick kick that launched Red Ranger into the air and smashing to the ground in a sickening thud.

Even in their morphed state, the Rangers were clearly no match for the Kain/Plaghe hybrid, as evident by his purple bolts that sent each one flying and crashing on the ground. Kain turned his attention towards Goldar, whom was slowly walking away. In an instant, the monster blinked out of existence and popped over the Titan, who became aware of his foe and instinctively swung his sword across the hybrid's chest. The blow caused several sparks to fly from the impacted area, but the monster was unphased. Goldar attempted several more slashes across the same area, but none of them were able to produce results. Tommy, still dazed, slowly brought himself to his feet and saw Kain slowly approach Goldar, who was throwing this enemy everything he knew at him and nothing worked.

I know I'm going to regret this in the morning, Tommy thought.

Starting off at a maddening speed, White Ranger forcefully leapt to the air and extended Saba to the sky overhead. When he came down from behind Kain, he thrust the saber downward, which the blade managed to penetrate the outer skin of the monster's upper back, plunging deeper into the creature. Kain screamed in agony and whacked White Ranger a good mile away from him, but turned around to receive a bone-crunching headbutt from Goldar. The attack had caused Kain to stagger for a moment, giving Goldar the opening he needed. With a quick motion, he shot several beams from his eyes at Kain, who felt the pain from each blow.

Kain felt the pain get to him and retaliated by firing a massive purple beam at Goldar, which struck the titan in the chest and sent him flying. He shot a similar beam to the Red Ranger, who narrowly managed to move out of the way but was in much pain to launch a counter attack. Soon White Ranger found himself the only one left standing, much to his disappointment.

Oh crap, Tommy thought.

Kain charged his energies. Just when it seemed to be ready to launch the killing blow, a green bolt of energy disrupted Kain's charge, causing him more pain than intended. White Ranger wondered from a distance and turned to the Red Ranger, who was clutching on his chest.

"Jason?"

"Not me, bro." Red Ranger assured, slowly regaining his strength.

White Ranger got a clearer look at the figure and was almost surprised (and relieved) to see the Black Ranger holding his Power Axe in a cannon position, smoke creeping up from the barrel. Kain, also noticing the Black Ranger, dashed at him, but failed to notice the three other Rangers standing behind Zack.

"Did anyone call for a vaccine? 'Cause we have that right here!" Black Ranger called from a distance as green balls of energy fired from the Power Axe's cannon, each blast staggering Kain heavily.

"Ooh! Target Practice!" Pink Ranger giggled as she shot Flaming Arrows from her Power Bow that impaled the outer skin of Kain, forcing purple liquid to bleed from the wounds.

"I haven't anything nonsensical to add," Blue Ranger muttered as he fired energy beams from his Blade/Pulse Blaster combo, mostly striking Kain in various points of his body.

"Don't worry, Billy. Neither do I." Yellow Ranger responded, tossing her Power Daggers at Kain. The daggers flew straight through the hybrid's chest and out of his back, forming two sizable holes in his body.

"Good to see you guys in one piece." Red Ranger said in relief as he joined up with his friends, "Now let's bring them together!"

The five Rangers summoned and unified their individual Power Weapons to form their Power Blaster, their best offensive weapon which had been instrumental in destroying several of Rita and Zedd's monsters of the past. With the Blaster formed, the five Rangers aimed at Kain, who was just shaking off the pain caused by the barrage of weapons. Behind him, on opposite sides, stood White Ranger and a recovering Goldar, who were going to witness the final killing blow delivered.

"FIRE!"

Five continuous beams of colored energy fired from the Power Cannon and struck Kain in the chest (or rather, what's left of his chest), who staggered in pain. However, despite smoke forming from the struck areas of his body, it wasn't enough to finish him off.

"Hit him again!" White Ranger called, "He's almost finished!"

"Right," Red Ranger replied, "FIRE AGAIN!"

Five more beams from the Power Cannon struck Kain, who groaned in pain. For a brief moment, the Rangers and Goldar could visibly see the human form of Ethan Kain screaming in pain, only to quickly dissolve in a purplish mist. Soon after, the hybrid form shifted back into Plaghe before its merging with Kain. The creature staggered for a moment before tipping over and exploding in a brilliant blast. Such was the end for the creature Plaghe and the human Ethan Kain.

The Rangers celebrated their victory and as Goldar looked on, his mind shifted. He had thought of attacking the victorious Power Rangers; most certainly, the White Ranger was watching him and an attack would not be surprising to him in any way. Instead, the Titan relented and teleported back to the moon. For the moment, the day was theirs.

-o-

The following week had been relatively calm, for the most part. Even though they showed no signs of the infection remaining, Zack, Trini, Kimberly, and Billy were told to stop by the Command Center daily for routine physicals to ensure that they no longer carried any traces of the disease. All in all, everything was smoothly returning to normal. Or rather, as normal as this town can be.

In any case, Jason was glad that things have been resolved quickly, because now he, Zack, and Trini can concentrate on their attempts to be accepted in the peace process in Switzerland. According to the news, they're going to be announcing the candidates chosen from Angel Grove. No doubt things will be interesting if they were to be chosen, as they would have to stand down from their Ranger duties and pass the responsibilities to others.

But that's another story in itself...

THE END


End file.
